Savukynas stuns Metea with a pair of goals

Waubonsie Valley provided a couple of reasons to celebrate Senior Night on Thursday, and they both came from senior Gytis Savukynas.

Savukynas erupted for his first multi-goal game, scoring in each half of a 2-0 victory over Metea Valley in Upstate Eight Valley action in Aurora.

“I don’t know what got into him tonight, but I like it,” Waubonsie Valley defender and captain Jack Cicchini said. “That was great.”

The defense and midfield play of the Warriors was also pretty great, led by Cicchini and fellow defender Jason Dressel, along with midfielders Timmy Miller, Michael Mueller and Sonny Saiz.

“I think we still need to possess the ball more and be more cautious because we still tend to give up the ball easily with no pressure on,” Warriors coach Angelo DiBernardo said. “Overall though, I thought we did some nice things.”

Waubonsie Valley (10-6-1, 3-3) dominated the first half. The Warriors had two shot attempts in the opening minute and ultimately were rewarded with 22:03 remaining in the first half when Savukynas fought for and won the ball, dribbled forward and fired a shot just inside the left post.

“I just poked it from the guy to get it and then was worried (teammate Derek) Schafer would touch it,” he said. “He didn’t and I’m just glad I was able to score it.”

Metea Valley (7-6-3, 2-4) wasn’t productive at all in the opening half, settling for three shots from long range, two from the right foot of Patrick Regal and the other from David Rodriguez.

“For whatever reason we mentally psych ourselves out when we play people in the district,” Mustangs coach Josh Robinson said. “That’s why we’re sitting at 7-6-3 rather than at 11-3 or 12-2, because we’ve played so inconsistently.”

The Warriors continued to play well in the second half and if they could’ve nudged a pair of shots by a few inches in the opening 20 minutes of the second half they might’ve pushed ahead 3-0. Casey Bucz blasted a shot off the crossbar on one such occasion while Savukynas couldn’t avoid tattooing the right post. Fortunately for the Warriors, Savukynas would get another opportunity with 8:50 left and he’d use it break the game open.

“(Metea Valley) hit the post on a shot too so it was pretty close and fortunately our defense played really well,” Savukynas said. “I’m just excited that we’re playing to our potential and finally putting it together and playing well.”

Waubonsie Valley has now won five straight.